


Babyboy

by yuletide_archivist



Category: The Covenant (2006)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-19
Updated: 2007-12-19
Packaged: 2018-01-25 05:05:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1633061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuletide_archivist/pseuds/yuletide_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are four months when Caleb, Pogue and Reid have come into their powers and Tyler hasn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Babyboy

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to James and greenspine.
> 
> Written for Dizzy Dia

 

 

It seems to take forever for Tyler to turn thirteen. There are four months when Caleb, Pogue and Reid have come into their powers and Tyler hasn't. He hates it. They form a neat little trinity, even if they don't mean to. They talk in enigmatic half-sentences jostled between them.

"I was scared right up until..."

"Until you felt the rush of it."

"Yeah, and then it's like..."

" _Yeah_."

It's bad enough that Tyler can only trail after them, but when his mom sees him edging along behind them, she calls Caleb to her and fixes him with a serious look and says, "I know I can trust you to be responsible, Caleb. You _will_ look after Tyler, won't you?"

And Reid will tease and taunt him about it until something better comes along. It's from those days that 'babyboy' was born. Reid keeps on at him until Tyler gets shrill with outrage and Caleb, not even looking back from where he's walking in front with Pogue, snaps at Reid to _cut it out already_.

Even then, Reid only takes orders from Caleb grudgingly. They all know Caleb's the golden boy of the bloodlines - doesn't mean Reid has to like it.

Twenty-four days before Tyler turns thirteen, the four of them walk beyond the barn where the Covenant was formed three hundred years ago, through the trees and over the slate to the edge of the cliffs. There are steeper cliffs, cliffs like Marblehead that are nothing but a stone drop into nothingness. These cliffs though are gentler and they fall away into small, dusty beaches.

Tyler waits on the beach, tugging sulkily at the uneven sprouts of grass that burst through the pale gray sand. Pogue and Reid follow Caleb up to the cliff top and they stand there, the hazy rising sun at their backs, their figures limned in light and for a second, Tyler thinks it completely impossible that he'll ever be like them. He'll always be the youngest, the one who has to be protected and helped, the one who can't play the games that they do.

The first to jump is Reid, of course. He struts to the edge and kicks at the rocks. They hit the sand a few meters away from Tyler's feet. Reid was the last to come into his powers and he still doesn't always get it exactly right. Tyler looks at the fallen rocks and imagines the _crack_ of Reid's bones if he should jump and not be able to catch himself in time.

He jumps, sweeps through the air and lands before Tyler with a cocky smirk on his face and gives no sign that he ever even considered for a moment that he could have died just then.

Tyler's dad says Reid's a natural, but he doesn't say it like he approves of it. He's sad when he says it. Tyler doesn't get it because Reid's a jerk but he's got good reason to be. Even though he hasn't come into his powers yet, Tyler's already had the talk about how dangerous they are, how addictive. It feels wrong to be proud of the Power, wrong to admire Reid for taking to it so quickly, but Tyler does it all the same.

Pogue's next and he lands next to Reid with a soft scuffing of sand, almost going down on one knee.

"Need to work on your form, buddy," Reid says and Pogue flips him off without resentment.

They move apart to make room for Caleb, who lands gracefully, perfectly. A look of mutual frustration and unwilling admiration passes between Reid and Pogue, both of them leagues behind Caleb, and Tyler feels his lip curl sullenly. Reid and Pogue can share that exasperation and Reid, Pogue and Caleb can share the Power and Tyler can't have any of it at all. He's meant to be one of them and instead he's watching from the sidelines.

"How's that for getting your heartbeat going?" Reid says.

He turns away, back towards the cliff but Caleb catches his arm.

"You're not going again," he says. "It's dangerous."

"That's what the Power's for, douche," says Reid and shakes him off.

He only makes it a few steps towards the climb when Caleb's on him again, grabbing him by the shoulder and spinning him back about. A cloud drifts over the sky and Tyler shivers as the air turns cool, hugs his hoodie tight about himself. The crash of the waves turns a little fierce. He doesn't think they're doing it but he doesn't know the Power, doesn't know how it works, what it does, so he's not sure.

"They told you the same as they told me, idiot!" Caleb says. "You can't just use all the time! It'll kill you!"

It doesn't make any difference that Pogue's not saying anything. He's moved to stand by Caleb and the two of them are staring Reid down. It's not right. Two on one isn't _right_. They shouldn't be turning in on each other. The Covenant means they're all on the same side, doesn't it?

"It's my life! You can't tell me what to do! So just back off, Caleb!"

Reid's short-tempered at the best of times. Right now, his face has gone angular and pinched, body hunched over like he's getting ready to spring at Caleb. He probably is.

"You jump again," says Caleb, "and I'll tell your dad."

His voice is firm and quiet but it carries over the roar of the sea. It's totally unfair of him and Tyler instantly takes a step towards Reid. He's smaller than the other three, powerless, but it's not fair to leave Reid on his own against Caleb and Pogue.

"You can't do that," he says, looking straight at Caleb.

There's a second where Caleb's eyes widen in surprise but then he purses his lips, looking like a mini-adult with his put-upon maturity. He frowns at Tyler.

"Look, just keep out. You don't understand," he says. "Not yet."

It's not meant to hurt. And it's not like it's not true. But it's a door slamming in Tyler's face, with his best and only friends in the world on the other side of it. He blinks furiously because he can feel tears prickling his eyes. He looks down at the sand abruptly because he can't let them see. He's the youngest of the group, not the _baby_.

They're still arguing as Tyler backs off. If they didn't even notice him leaving he wouldn't be surprised. Briefly, as he trudges up the slope of the cliff, he hates them all. Hates that the Covenant binds him to them. And he loves them all too and wishes they'd all been born the exact same moment, so none of them would ever have to have anything that the others didn't.

The wind plucks and pulls at him as he shuffles towards the edge of the cliff, watching the battered toes of his sneakers creep closer to the line where the ground drops away. They're still fighting down there. Reid's gonna start throwing punches at any minute.

Morning warmth can't cut through the chill of the air and Tyler sucks in breath before the wind can snatch it away from him.

The Power belongs to him, just like it belongs to them. It's _waiting_ inside him, that's all. It's there. And maybe it's waiting _for_ Tyler. Maybe he just has to reach inside and find it and then it'll be his and he'll be able to stand beside Reid and Pogue and Caleb and _be one of them_. Maybe he just needs to be brave. Maybe he needs to prove he's old enough and brave enough, not the baby anymore.

He jumps.

The ground leaps up at him at an alarming rate and there's no chance of breathing ever again. Through the hammering of his heartbeat, Tyler thinks he hears something. And he definitely sees Reid's face turned up towards him. He even thinks he might be able to see the blank, cold fear in his eyes before they turn shiny and black like a beetle's carapace.

Reid flings his hand up and the air turns sticky about Tyler. He's still falling but somehow the world is grinding to a halt about him until he's just hanging there. In the first instant after Reid catches him, Tyler feels shivery, like he's slowly coming apart. He dares to breathe again and manages a shaky smile at Reid.

The world lurches back into movement and he can see Reid's hand trembling. Tyler tries to brace himself against the emptiness to slow his fall but he can feel Reid's hold on him slipping. Something desperate twists Reid's face.

"Fucking _help me_!" he screams.

It's the note of terror in Reid's voice that finally gets through to Caleb and Pogue. They've been standing, frozen and horrified, until at last they're moving up to stand by Reid's side. Together, the three of them bring Tyler down, settling him on the beach with a care and gentleness that somehow surprises Tyler.

He spits out a mouthful of sand and wipes the back of his hand over his eyes. Even nearly dying isn't enough to make him willing to let the others see him cry.

The three of them are still just staring at him and they look so young and scared that Tyler feels a rush of power over them. He did that. He wiped away their cockiness and bickering. United in a common cause, the cause being not letting Tyler break every bone in his body.

"Still gonna tell on Reid for using his powers?" he says to Caleb.

It's enough to snap Caleb pretty much back to himself. He rolls his eyes and offers a hand to Tyler to help him up.

"Like I said, you don't understand-"

Reid knocks him out of the way and wraps an arm around Tyler to haul him to his feet. He slaps him lightly in the chest and smirks at Caleb.

"Go on, do it," he says. "And I'll tell Tyler's mommy about how you almost let her precious babyboy get all smashed up."

"You're such a jerk," says Pogue, tugging Caleb away before he can draw himself up to his full height and properly punch Reid like he deserves.

They watch Pogue and Caleb walk away and then, sunshine turning his hair to a burning halo, Reid turns to Tyler and grins.

"Wanna go again?" he says. "C'mon, we don't need them. You jump, I'll catch you."

And even though he's still twenty-four days off having the Power for himself, Tyler knows he has a place within the Sons of Ipswich.

 


End file.
